Scaffold



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` July 9, 1968 P. DUKE ETAL SCAFFOLD 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed oct. 19,1966 v asgjiwm 5 PAUL DUKE- J'AMES EJAQPOLE Mmmm@ ATTORNEYS UnitedStates Patent Oce 3,391,757 Patented July 9, 1968 3,391,757 SCAFFOLDPaul Duke and James E. Harpole, Columbus, Miss., as-

signors to Ceco Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of DelawareFiled Oct. 19, 1966, Ser. No. 587,838 4 Claims. (Cl. 182--17) ABSTRACT FTHE DISCLOSURE A scaffold composed of separable units for assembly tomeet required conditions, including a pair of wheeled carriages forIrolling a-long the top edge of a building wall, ladder-like supportingunits telescopically connectible to each other in vertical alignment andto the oarriage, scaffold boards connecting the supporting units to holdthe units and carriages in spaced relation, and Wallbearing wheeledunits telescopicallly connectible to the lowermost supporting units tobear against the building Wall and take horizontal loads. Guards holdthe carriages against accidental displacement, and brakes operate tolock the carriage wheels.

This invention relates to scaffolds, and more particularly to scaffoldswhich `are mounted upon, rand are movable along, a building wall.

Scaffolding of several types is now in use, such as the type wherein ascaffolding platform is suspended by ropes from overhead pulleys, or thesectional type wherein the scaffolding is built up of standard units asrequired. In all types, however, much time is lost in erecting thescaffold before workmen can begin their job, and much more time is lostin taking down the scaffolding and moving it to another position along abuilding wall when work at the first location has been completed. Itrequires as much time, if not more, to move the scaffold from one placeto another along the Wall, as it does to erect the scaffold in the firstinstance.

The general object of the present invention is to provide a scaffoldwhich has a mounting carriage to seat upon, and roll along the top of, abuilding Wall, so that the scaffold is freely movable along the entirelength of the wall.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a scaffold ofsectional nature, which is Isupported top and bottom by contact with thewall of a building on which it is mounted.

Another object is the provision of such a sectional scaffold which canbe assembled in any desired Ilength by using as many intermediate pieces`as may be necessary.

A further object of the invention is to provide a scaf- -foldparticularly adapted for use along the eave beam of a metal building,and when fitted in place on the cave beam will be locked againstaccidental displacement.

Still another object is the provision of a movable scaffold havingbraking means to hold the scaffold in positions of adjustment along abuilding wall.

Yet a further object of the invention is to provide a movable scaffoldin which the wall-hung units are -used in pairs vwith scaffold boardsforming a platform between them.

It is also an object of the invention to provide scaffolding in whichthe wall-hung units have pins by means of which the scaffold boards canbe locked to the units.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the followingdescription of one practical embodiment thereof, when taken inconjunction with the drawings which accompany, and form part of, thisspecification.

ln the drawings:

FIGURE l is a perspective view of a scaffold embodying the principles ofthe present invention, Iwith the scaffold being mounted upon the wall ofa metal building;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section through a side wall of a metal building,the scaffolding being shown in place thereon in end elevation;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged side view yof one of the mounting carriages forsupporting the scaffold on the Wall;

FIGURE 4 is a partial horizontal section through the scaffolding, takenon the line 4-4 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 lis an enlarged sectional view of the upper and lower portionsof the scaffold as seen in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 6 is a further enlarged detail View, illustrating the brakemechanism; and

FIGURE 7 is an exploded perspective view of the elements making up onewall-mounted unit of the scaffold.

In general, the scaffold consists of two wall-hung units, each composedof an upper [roller carriage and `a lower roller bearing member, withone `or more intermediate scaffold board supporting sections between theupper and lower members. A pair of these units in spaced relation withscaffold boards at one, or more, elevations bridging the units forms acomplete scaffold.

Referring to the drawings in detail, it will beI seen Kfrom FIGURE lthat the scaffold is composed of two wallbearing units 1, which ridealong the top of a building Wall, as will be described, and one or morescaffold lboards 2. Wallebearing units are held in horizontally spacedrelation by means of the scaffold boards, so that the compositestructure provides Ia platform which is sup- Iported from, and can movealong the length of, a building wall.

Each of the wall-bearing units 1 is made up of a number of parts. Thereis a wheeled carriage 3, which `forms a lmovable support from which theremaining members are suspended, a board `supporting unit 4 connected tothe carriage, a base wall follower member 5, and, if desired, one ormore intermediate board supporting units 6.

Carriage 3 has an open frame 7, which includes a pair of horizontallyspaced, generally L-shaped side frames 8. Vertical legs 9 of the sideframes 8 are bridged at their top by an angle iron 10 and at theirbottom by an angle iron 11 to hold the side frames in proper spacedrelation. Horizontal legs 12 of side frames 8 have vertically offset,inverted U-shape portions forming arbors 13, in which rollers 14 aremounted upon shafts 15. The ends of legs 12 are bent downwardly andforwardly to form horizontal arbors 16 in which rollers 17 are mountedon shafts 18. The tops of arbors 13 are bridged by an angle iron 19, andsuitable braces 20 and gnssets 21 may be used to brace the angularlyrelated sections of the side frames. The lower arm 22 of horizontalarbor 16 extends forwardly beyond the bearing surfaces of rollers 17,and its free end 23 forms a guard to prevent accidental slipping of thecarriage from a building wall, as will be described. There is a shaft 24extending across one of the arbors 13, which shaft carries an eccentric25 to bear against the associated roller 14 to provide a lock, or brake,for the carriage. An operating handle 26 is provided for rotating theeccentric into, and out of, braking contact with the roller. Carriage 3has a mounting post 27, secured to the angle iron members 10 and 11 offrame 7, to occupy a substantially vertical position and depend belowthe frame. That portion of post 27 below the frame may have one or morebolt openings 28 to permit rigid connection of the carriage to the boardsupporting unit 4. rIt will be noted from FIGURE 5 of the drawings thatvertical legs 9 and horizontal legs 12 D of the side frame are notarranged at a precise right angle. The slight deviation from rightangular relationship will permit the complete unit to hang parallel withthe building wall since the top leg of the eave beam is greater than aright angle.

Board supporting unit 4 is a ladder-like structure, having spacedvertical runners 29 and 30, between which there are a number ofvertically spaced, horizontal rails 31 for supporting the scaffoldboards 2. Each rail has vertically extending pins 32 near its ends,which form anchoring members for the scaffold boards, as will bedescribed. Runner projects upwardly some distance beyond the top ofrunner 29, to provide a mounting leg 33 for connecting the unit 4 to themounting post 27 of carriage 3. The projecting portion 33 will have oneor more openings 34 to receive a bolt 35, which will also pass throughopening 23 in the carriage mounting post.

In some instances, it may not be necessary, or desirable, that thewall-bearing unit 1 have a length greater than that provided by theboard supporting unit 4. In those instances, the wall follower basemember 5 will be mounted directly to the unit 4. Where a longersupporting area is desired, one or more of the intermediate units 6 willbe connected to the bottom of the supporting unit 4. Intermediate units6 are very similar to the supporting unit 4, and are composed of siderunners 36 and 37, held in spaced, parallel relation by rails 38. Rails38 carry vertical pins 39 for mounting the scaffold boards. At the topof runner 36 there is a connecting sleeve 4t), which is welded to thetop of the runner. Sleeve 40 has a bolt opening 41 near its top. Thesleeve is adapted to t over the lower end of runner 30 of unit 4, orrunner 36 of another intermediate section 6, and when a hole 42 near thebottom of rail 30 is in registry with opening 41 in the sleeve, a bolt43 is put through the openings to secure the two units together. Runner37 has a post 44 projecting from its top, which post fits within thelower end of runner 29 of the unit 4. Post 44 has an opening 45 formating with an opening 46 near the :bottom of runner 29 so that the twomembers may be secured together by a bolt 47. Runner 36 has anotheropening 48 near its bottom, and runner 37 has a bolt opening 49, topermit attachment to other sections, or for attachment of the wallfollowing base member 5.

Member 5 is composed of a vertical leg 50 having a bracket 51 attachedto its lower end and projecting at right angles from the leg. Thebracket is braced by a suitable gusset 52, which extends between the legand the bracket. A roller 53 is connected to the outer end of thebracket by a shaft forming means 54, with the roller lying horizontallyfor bearing contact with the face of a building wall. The member ismounted at the bottom of an intermediate unit 6 by inserting leg 50 intoside runner 36, or at the bottom of board supporting unit 4 by insertingleg into side runner 30. A set screw S6 is inserted through the openingat the bottom of the unit runners to lock the member 5 to the unit.

Scatold boards 2 may be of any desired form, but are shown as composedof a ladder member 57, having the usual side rails 58 and rungs 59. Aconventional board, or plank, 66, is laid upon the rungs of the ladderto provide a solid platform. Near each end of the ladder member 57,there is a mounting bracket 61, in the form of an elongated bar fixed tothe outer sides of the side rails of the ladder. Each mounting brackethas one or more sockets, or eyes, 62 to receive the pins 32 of thesupporting unit 4, or the pins 39 of the intermediate units 6. By havingtwo, or more, sockets on each mounting bracket, a plurality of selectivespacings of the wallbearing units can be obtained.

Referring particularly now to FIGURES l, 2 and 5, there is shown a metalbuilding having a masonry foundation, or footing, 63, upon which thereis a wall 64, capped by an eave beam 65 of channel cross section. Whenit is necessary to work on the buildin-g wall, two

of the wall-bearing units will be assembled as required. Each will havea carriage 3, a supporting unit 4 and a wall follower base member 5.These units will be assembled as previously described, and boltedtogether. If the height of the wall requires it, one or moreintermediate units 6 will be included in the assembly. In normalpractice, the wall follower base member 5 will be mounted within theside runner of the unit above it to project sufficiently below that unitto permit its roller 53 to rest against the building foundation 63. Whenthe wall-bearing units are assembled, their carriages will be mounted onthe eave beam 65 of the building. The carriages will be supported byrollers I4 which rest upon the top flange of the eave beam. Theserollers will carry the weight of the scaffold. Rollers i7 will bearagainst the back edge of the top ange of the eave beam to prevent thecarriage from slipping forwardly off of the wall. It will be noted fromFIGURE 5 that the guard ends 23 of the horizontal arbors 16 projectinwardly beneath the upper flange of the eave beam when the carriage isin place, so as to lock the carriage on the beam and prevent itsaccidental removal. When the wall-bearing units are in place on the wallthe scaffold boards are positioned between them. The selected sockets 62of the mounting brackets will be inserted over the pins of thesupporting units to hold the wall-bearing units in proper spacedrelation. The scaffold boards may be mounted at one or more heights andpermit workmen to occupy several levels on the wall. The brake handles26 on the respective carriages will be operated to turn the eccentrics25 into braking relation with the rollers 14 to lock the scaitoldagainst movement during working periods. When the workmen have completedtheir jobs at a specific location, the brakes will be released and thescaffold can be moved along the wall by the workmen pulling against thebuilding without leaving their places on the scaffold. When a newposition is reached, the brake members will be operated to again lockthe scaffold in its adjusted position. j

With a scaffold constructed in accordance with the present invention,the several sections can be assembled as required to fit a specicbuilding, but when the units are mounted upon the building an entirewall can be worked upon without disassembly. This results in a greatsaving of time. The sectional units are readily adaptable to assembly indifferent combinations to fit the assembly to any desired wall height.

While in the above one practical embodiment of the invention has beendisclosed, it will be understood that the details of construction shownand described are merely by way of illustration, and the invention maytake other forms within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A set of scaffold components comprising, a pair of wheeled carriagesfor rolling support in spaced relation upon a wall top, each carriagehaving a depending mounting post, a plurality of ladder-like supportingunits connectible to each other in vertical alignment and to the wheeledcarriages, each ladder-like supporting unit having vertical, spaced,parallel side runners bridged by horizontal rails, one of said siderunners being telescopically received over the mounting post of awheeled carriage, means to releasably secure the said one ruimer to themounting post to suspend a supporting unit from the carriage, the otherof said side runners being spaced outwardly from said one runner toposition the ladder-like supporting unit at right angles to thedirection of rolling movement of the wheeled carriage from which it issuspended, a wheeled base member having an elongated mounting legtelescopically receivable in the said one side runner of a supportingunit to position the wheeled base member in rolling contact with a wall,means to releasably secure the mounting leg in the said one side runnerin selected positions of telescopic adjustment, and at least onescaffold board to bridge the ladder-like supporting n nits suspendedfrom the wheeled carriages to hold the carriages and suspendedladder-like units n spaced relation.

2. A set of scaffold components as claimed in claim 1 wherein, there aremeans to interconnect the side runners of ladderlilre units in verticalalignment.

3. A set of scalold components as claimed in claim 1 wherein, eachwheeled carriage has a guard to underlie a section of a building wall toprevent accidental displacement of a carriage from a wall.

4. A set of scaffold components as claimed in claim 1 wherein, there isa brake on each carriage to hold the carriage against rolling movement.

6 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS FORETGN PATENTS 8/1948 GreatBritain. lll/195.0 France.

REINALDO P. MACHADO, Primary Examiner.

